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Cuban Americans Archive 2004

December 2004

Hispanic Business After a slow start, the Internet is emerging as an increasingly important advertising medium for companies that want to reach the U.S. Hispanic market. The Internet Advertising Bureau’s Hispanic Committee, comprising executives from companies such as Univision and Yahoo!, estimates… Read More

November 2004

MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Associated Press Carlos M. Gutierrez rose to the top of one of America’s biggest corporations after leaving Cuba in 1960 as a political refugee. He began working at cereal giant Kellogg Co. selling Frosted Flakes out of a van in Mexico City. President Bush, who nominated Gutierrez… Read More

By Richard S. Dunham | Business Week It instantly became part of American political legend: President Bush received a hefty 44% of the Hispanic vote on Nov. 2, up sharply from the 35% he garnered in 2000. Pundits credited the Latino surge to the GOP—as measured by two sets of media exit polls—for… Read More

BY LESLEY CLARK | Miami Herald At the fulcrum of exile politics, the Cuban American National Foundation is getting a new leader in turbulent times. A young aide to outgoing Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas today will be named executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, a prominent advocacy… Read More

By PAUL WENSKE | The Kansas City Star Population surge means more buyers and entrepreneurs Hispanic households will be an economic force in the nation over the next 10 years, The Conference Board reports in a new study. A key reason for this growing clout is that the number of Hispanic households is… Read More

BY DAVID OVALLE | Miami Herald Under the gaze of other teenagers, Gabriel De Los Reyes rises and neatly unfolds a computer-printed paper from a folder. The lanky 14-year-old clears his throat and quietly introduces his poem Green Paper. Then he explodes. ‘‘My notebook holds the only paper… Read More

Joe A. Reyna | Salt Lake Tribune Hispanics across America were emotional Wednesday because for the first time in history, two of their own were elected to the U.S. Senate outside of the state of New Mexico. In Colorado, Democrat Ken Salazar won the race against beer baron Peter Coors. In Florida, former… Read More

MIKE SCHNEIDER | Associated Press Mel Martinez frames his life as a classic immigrant success story - a teenage refugee from Cuba who eventually reaches the height of political power. Four years ago, he became the first Cuban-American to serve in a presidential cabinet. On Wednesday, he defeated Democrat… Read More

USA Today opinion Hispanics achieved a political milestone this week. They helped elect two of their own to the U.S. Senate. There have been three Hispanic senators, but this marks the first time two will serve together. Even more significant is the message sent by what is now the nation’s largest… Read More

October 2004

Geralda Miller | RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Julio Cisneros became a U.S. citizen earlier this year and recently exercised one of its most valued privileges — he voted. Cisneros stood in line more than an hour with several new citizens on the first day the polls opened in Reno to vote in the presidential… Read More

[url=http://www.HispanicOnline.com]http://www.HispanicOnline.com[/url] | By Teresa Dovalpage We Pioneers want communism. We’ll be like Che!” Until I was 15 years old, that was the slogan I repeated every morning at school, before the beginning of classes. I didn’t… Read More

[url=http://www.HispanicOnline.com]http://www.HispanicOnline.com[/url] | By ANA RADELAT Lalena Lopez has never voted, but plans to do so this year. But like thousands of Hispanics in key swing states, she hasn’t made up her mind about whether she’ll vote for Democratic… Read More

Greg Gatlin | Boston Herald WCVB-TV (Ch. 5) will aggressively target Boston’s growing Hispanic population, when it launches a Spanish subtitles option on all its newscasts along with a broader outreach campaign. The Hearst-Argyle-owned station says it will be the first in the market - and one of… Read More

Reuters Democrats are pouncing on what they say is a slip in support for President Bush among Florida’s Cuban Americans, who backed him overwhelmingly in 2000 and have been staunchly behind Republicans in presidential elections. The Democrats don’t expect their presidential candidate, Sen.… Read More

By ABBY GOODNOUGH | New York Times Defining the Hispanic vote in Florida used to be easy: Cuban immigrants, Republican to the last. But just try boiling it down this election season. A huge influx of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and people from Central and South America has diluted the political clout of… Read More

sify.com The Republican party may no longer count on the automatic support of Florida’s Cuban-American community, but Dania Rudd still looks over her shoulder to make sure no one would hear her say she is a Democrat. Older Cubans, like those who gather daily at Little Havana’s emblematic… Read More

By HOWARD FISCHER | Capitol Media Services Two top Democrats believe John Kerry has a chance to win Arizona this year—but only if Hispanics turn out for the Democratic nominee in greater numbers than they did four years ago for Al Gore. Henry Cisneros, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development… Read More

By Madeline Baro Diaz | Sun Sentinel Like many Cuban-Americans, Alex Pezon has been a staunch Republican most of his adult life. Pezon, of Lake Worth, has voted to put George Herbert Walker Bush, Bob Dole and George W. Bush in the White House. This time around, however, Pezon is committed to voting for… Read More

RON WORD | Associated Press Eligible to vote for the first time, 21-year-old Valerie Figueroa will play a part in the presidential election this November, joining a throng of new Hispanic voters who may make a difference in the race’s outcome in Florida and possibly the nation. Since 2000, Florida’s… Read More

September 2004

Marian Wilkinson reports from Miami | TheAge.com.au Little Havana, the Cuban corner of Miami, is the last place in Florida where George Bush would expect to find himself in trouble. But when the veteran anti-Castro rebel, Pepe Hernandez, sitting in the offices of the Cuban American National Foundation,… Read More

By Julia E. Sweig and Peter Kornbluh, Julia E. Sweig is senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “Inside the Cuban Revolution.” Peter Kornbluh is the author of “Bay of Pigs Declassified.” To curry favor with Cuban Americans, Bush turns a blind eye. A little-noticed… Read More

By Michael Coleman | Albuquerque Journal Washington Bureau Former President George H.W. Bush joined former Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. here Tuesday to launch a new conservative nonprofit group that will aim to improve economic conditions for Hispanics across the United States. The Hispanic Alliance… Read More

August 2004

Press Release The Board of Directors of The Latino Coalition (TLC) announced today their “Gran Fiesta Hispana Salsa Party” will be held on Tuesday, August 31st in New York City during the Republican National Convention, honoring the most influential Hispanics in the U.S.. The event will be… Read More

By Madeline Baro Diaz | Miami Bureau More than a month after the Bush administration implemented more stringent rules on family travel to Cuba and packages sent to the island, Cuban-Americans on both sides of the issue are increasingly making their feelings known. Opponents of new U.S. Treasury Department… Read More

July 2004

By James G. Lakely | THE WASHINGTON TIMES Hispanics were mostly absent from high-profile speaking slots at the Democratic National Convention this week in Boston, prompting rumbles that presidential nominee John Kerry may think that voting bloc is solidly in his column. Jorge Ramos, anchorman for the… Read More

By NBC 6 Reporter Hank Tester There is a lot of talk about the Kerry presidential campaign making inroads with the Cuban Exile Community. The conventional wisdom is that if Kerry can peel away some of that 80 percent of the Cuban vote that went to George W. Bush in 2000 there is a chance the Massachusetts… Read More

By Pablo Bachelet | Reuters WASHINGTON – President Bush is trailing his Democratic challenger John Kerry by a big margin among potential Hispanic voters, according to a new survey of Latino attitudes toward politics released Thursday. Kerry and his vice presidential choice, John Edwards, have the… Read More

by Ryan Lizza | The New Republic The House of Representatives is such a reliable rubber stamp for George W. Bush that it’s remarkable anytime the body votes against the president’s wishes. It’s even more remarkable when the House thwarts one of Bush’s few election-year… Read More

[url=http://www.emarketer.com]http://www.emarketer.com[/url] Notable differences in the shopping behavior of Hispanics and whites exist, reports BIGresearch, as just 20.5% of Hispanics say they shop for women’s clothes in discount stores whereas 29.5% of whites say the same.… Read More

By Elizabeth Lloyd | Contributor | [url=http://www.imediaconnection.com]http://www.imediaconnection.com[/url] Ford and AOL spark trend of teaming to reach Spanish-speaking small business owners in U.S. On April 29, Ford Motor Company and America Online launched the first-ever Spanish… Read More

Susan Milligan | The Boston Globe | [url=http://www.iht.com]http://www.iht.com[/url] New restrictions on family visits to Cuba imposed by the Bush administration last week have provoked an emotional backlash among some Cuban-Americans in Florida, leading to fears among some Republicans… Read More

DANIEL RUTH | Tampa Tribune If come this November, President George W. Bush loses his bid for re-election and the culprit eventually turns out to be a narrow defeat in Florida, he may well attribute his fate to a lousy, stinking $117. Over the course of 10 presidential administrations, one strategy after… Read More

[url=http://www.local10.com]http://www.local10.com[/url] Hundreds of people at Miami International Airport are furious today after they were not allowed to board charter flights to Cuba. The charter flights were not approved by the proper U.S. agencies, leaving hopeful travelers frustrated,… Read More

BY VANESSA BAUZA | South Florida Sun-Sentinel Scores of Cuban Americans laden with bulging duffle bags and wads of cash emerged from the dark tinted, sliding glass doors of Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport on Friday, seizing quick, last- minute trips to see their relatives before the Bush… Read More

June 2004

Sandino Martinez | [url=http://www.HispanicBusiness.com]http://www.HispanicBusiness.com[/url] The Democratic governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, said here Thursday that Hispanics could make the difference in the November elections and predicted that the candidate who wins Arizona,… Read More

By ABBY GOODNOUGH and TERRY AGUAYO | New York Times Miriam Verdura could hardly wait to visit family in her native Cuba next month, her second trip since immigrating to southern Florida in 1999. But the Bush administration has dashed her plans with restrictions that start next Wednesday. “It’s… Read More

Associated Press State figures show group gaining ground at an increasing rate Hispanics are still on pace to outnumber Anglos in Texas by 2020 and may even do it sooner, according to new state population estimates. The Texas State Data Center’s biennial population projection, released this week,… Read More

By Margaret O’shea | [url=http://www.timesanddemocrat.com]http://www.timesanddemocrat.com[/url] When Chris Rawl was growing up in Lexington County South Carolina, he and his high school friends never had to look for jobs. There was plenty of planting, picking and packing to… Read More

Associated Press Two nonpartisan groups are spending millions of dollars to court the Hispanic vote in Arizona. Director of Project Vote Dave Leland says his group will spend about $1.8 million to register 140,000 Arizona Latinos. The Moving America Forward Foundation is pledging to raise $1 million… Read More

By Maya Bell | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer Elizabeth Cerejido felt like an outcast growing up among other Cuban exiles in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. The 34-year-old museum curator never related to the pro-embargo diatribes that drove flag-waving protesters into the streets. “The… Read More

By Brian Grow, with Ronald Grover, Arlene Weintraub, and Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles, Mara Der Hovanesian in New York, Michael Eidam in Atlanta, and bureau reports Hispanics are an immigrant group like no other. Their huge numbers are challenging old assumptions about assimilation. Is America… Read More

BY YUKI NOGUCHI | The Washington Post WASHINGTON—Elmer Arias whizzes through 5,000 minutes a month on his cell phone, racking up at least $200 in charges, which include daily phone calls to his native El Salvador. “As a business owner and as president of the Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce,… Read More

by Lew Sichelman | [url=http://www.RealtyTimes.com]http://www.RealtyTimes.com[/url] Hispanics are more uncomfortable than any other ethnic group in handling business transactions in English, according to a study of home buying attitudes. “Real estate agents who conduct business… Read More

May 2004

By LIZ SIDOTI | The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Democrat John Kerry is launching a $17 million monthlong ad campaign, targeting Hispanics with a commercial unveiled Friday, appealing to black audiences and making his first push into Republican-leaning Virginia. “This is a gesture of strength,”… Read More

Teresa Borden | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution When Rene Michel Diaz started importing Hispanic food brands to Atlanta in 1980, he would order 100 cases a month of Bustelo coffee, a Cuban favorite. Now, he orders fewer than five. But his orders of Maseca cornmeal, for Mexican tortillas, are going through… Read More

[url=http://www.HispanicBusiness.com]http://www.HispanicBusiness.com[/url] U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has surged to nearly $700 billion and is projected to reach as much as $1 trillion by 2010, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence®. The rate of growth is nearly three… Read More

By WES ALLISON, St Petersburg Times Staff Writer MIAMI - America’s Cuban policy, centered as it is around the exile community here, has always been guided by two often-competing interests: the desire to strangle dictator Fidel Castro, while supporting the family members left behind. Now, a new… Read More

Miami Herald On the 102nd anniversary of Cuba’s independence from Spain, the key to political change on the island rests with its dissidents, the chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation has said. By Luisa Yanez. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //= 0;… Read More

By MIKE SCHNEIDER | Associated Press Writer John Kerry can win the White House if he earns two-thirds of the 3 million Hispanic voters who have been added to registration rolls since 2000, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said Saturday. By doing so, Kerry - the presumptive Democratic… Read More

April 2004

Oscar Corral | Miami Herald With George W. Bush and Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry both campaigning in Miami in the next few days, expectations are high among Cuban Americans that they will present some new, effective anti-Castro plans. The political stakes are high in South Florida, with… Read More

By Doreen Hemlock | Business Writer | Sun-Sentinel Corporations are quickly boosting their spending on ads aimed at U.S. Hispanics, but their outlays still fall relatively short compared to the number of Latinos in the U.S. population. That’s the conclusion of a study released Wednesday as part… Read More

HispanTelligence According to a recent survey conducted by Hispanic Business magazine, the top 25 Hispanic-advertising agencies spend approximately 90 percent of their total billings on Spanish-language advertisements. There are a number of indications, however, that a large segment of the U.S. Hispanic… Read More

By Roger Fillion | Rocky Mountain News Hispanics are flocking to cyberspace faster than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States, a new study shows. Internet usage among Hispanics is expected to jump 7.4 percent this year after an 8.0 percent spurt in 2003, market research firm eMarketer forecasts. Read More

By Stephen Gibbs | BBC correspondent in Havana Havana wants more Cuban exiles to visit the island and spend money. The Cuban government has confirmed that from June, Cubans living abroad will no longer need to apply for a visa to visit the Caribbean island. They will require a Cuban passport to visit… Read More

By NAT IVES | New York Times News Service Hershey Foods plans to announce Monday that it will soon blanket Spanish-language television, radio and magazines with ads for its chocolates and candies, becoming the latest big marketer to try spreading its reach in the fast-growing Hispanic market. In a departure… Read More

BY VANESSA BAUZA AND DIANA MARRERO | South Florida Sun-Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - America Puig does not own a home or expensive clothing and the closest thing she has ever come to a vacation is a weekend road trip across Alligator Alley. The 52-year-old daycare worker saves every extra… Read More

March 2004

By Vanessá Bauzá And Diana Marrero | Sun Sentinel America Puig does not own a home or expensive clothing, and the closest thing she has ever come to a vacation is a weekend road trip across Alligator Alley. The daycare worker, 52, saves every extra penny for something closer to her heart: sending cash… Read More

By SHAWN McCARTHY | [url=http://www.TheGlobeAndMail.com]http://www.TheGlobeAndMail.com[/url] NEW YORK—Claude Sauvageau, formerly of Boucherville, Que., and now of Dade City, Fla., makes his living peddling industrial lubricants throughout the United States. The job can… Read More

By SUMMER HARLOW | The Kansas City Star The presidential candidates’ positions on immigration issues are what will win them Hispanic votes in the Midwest, leaders of the League of United Latin American Citizens said Saturday. The national nonpartisan group, although not supporting a particular… Read More

JACQUI GODDARD | news.scotsman.com FOR four decades, Jose Miguel Battle allegedly headed a violent crime syndicate that reaped $1.5 billion (£818 million) in illegal profits and ruthlessly disposed of its rivals in a series of bloody murders. Today, the reputed El Padrino - or Godfather - of the Cuban… Read More

By Rafael Lorente | South Florida Sun-Sentinel WASHINGTON—Six in 10 Cuban-American voters say they are likely to vote for President Bush in November, a substantial drop from the votes he received in 2000 and a possible reflection of long-simmering tensions between exiles and a White House that… Read More

The Associated Press Cultural celebration Thousands of people gather at Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana on Sunday. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez) MIAMI—Latin music lovers filled more than 20 blocks Sunday in the heart of the Little Havana neighborhood to listen and dance to their favorite… Read More

By Brian Grow, with Ronald Grover, Arlene Weintraub, and Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles, Mara Der Hovanesian in New York, Michael Eidam in Atlanta, and bureau reports | BusinessWeek.com Hispanics are an immigrant group like no other. Their huge numbers are challenging old assumptions about assimilation.… Read More

[url=http://www.businessweek.com]http://www.businessweek.com[/url] Multicultural-marketing head Graciela Eleta talks about the consumer-product giant’s in-depth Latino strategy Cincinnati is far from a hotbed of Hispanic immigrants. But the doyenne of that Midwestern city—Procter… Read More

[url=http://www.hispanicbusiness.com]http://www.hispanicbusiness.com[/url] | Kate Ackerman WASHINGTON - A group that supports centrist Democratic candidates on Friday launched a $5 million television advertising campaign aimed at Hispanic voters. The New Democratic Network, convinced… Read More

By KEN THOMAS | The Associated Press KISSIMMEE—If Central Florida is the state’s most contested political battleground, the borders of state Rep. John Quinones’ district may be the front lines. The district, covering parts of Orange and Osceola counties, holds a growing Puerto Rican… Read More

February 2004

BY OSCAR CORRAL | Knight Ridder Newspapers MIAMI - (KRT) - Cuban-American congressional leaders and members of anti-Castro exile organizations Friday unveiled one of the most comprehensive proposals to date of how to proceed with a transition to democracy and a social market economy in a post-Castro… Read More

By JULIET V. CASEY | REVIEW-JOURNAL In a state where Hispanics represent at least 22 percent of the population, the strength of Hispanic voters in upcoming presidential elections still is debatable. No major efforts were launched to engage Hispanics in the Nevada caucuses, and most activists say they… Read More

By Donald Lambro | THE WASHINGTON TIMES Democrats must step up the courting of Hispanics who have voted Republican in recent years or risk losing this year’s presidential election, states a Democratic campaign strategy memorandum. In a surprisingly frank analysis of the political challenges… Read More

By Tom Incantalupo | Newsday When Honda targets Latino and Asian consumers in ads for its Accord, it most often pitches the sedan version. When the carmaker targets African-Americans, it emphasizes the sportier coupe. When Ford advertises its Focus to Hispanics, it emphasizes the small car’s attributes… Read More

JACQUES BILLEAUD | Associated Press Writer PHOENIX (AP)—Hispanics are poised to emerge as an influential voting force in the United States, observers say, especially now that two southwestern states are playing an earlier role in the presidential nominating process. More than 35 million Hispanics… Read More

C.T. REVERE | Tucson Citizen George Garcia has yet to decide which Democrat will get his vote in Arizona’s presidential preference election, but he knows what he wants the next president to do. “There needs to be more done for Hispanics in terms of better opportunities,” said Garcia,… Read More

By C.J. Karamargin | ARIZONA DAILY STAR Jobs, Iraq, immigration - which issue will draw Arizona Hispanics to the polls on Feb. 3? All of the above. With the Democratic presidential primary less than two weeks away, political leaders, activists and academics say no single issue is likely to dominate among… Read More

Eunice Moscoso | Hispanic Business DES MOINES, Iowa - Four blocks from this city’s ornate Capitol dome, a Mexican market offers an assortment of tortillas, pinatas and 27 kinds of beans. Another block down, a Spanish-language soap opera plays on TV as patrons wait for a hair cut at “Salon… Read More

Greg Flakus | Associated Press AP Jose Ramos unloads copies of his El Latino newspaper while making deliveries in Perry, Iowa As voters prepare to caucus in the midwestern state of Iowa, pundits and analysts are questioning whether the results in this atypical state will mean much, as the national… Read More

By KARIN RIVES | New Observer Q.—Has the Hispanic business community continued to grow, despite the slow economy? A.—Absolutely, but it’s very tough to know how many businesses we have. ... Roughly we can talk about 10,000 to 15,000 new businesses in North Carolina every year, but it’s… Read More

[url=http://www.mediapost.com]http://www.mediapost.com[/url] Meredith Corporation has named Ruth Gaviria as its Director of Hispanic Ventures for the Meredith Magazine Group, a new position. Gaviria, 42, most recently served as the Director of Marketing and Brand Development for People… Read More